Greykin Valley

| 9 | But Then I Found You

It made sense, though. Of course it did. His grandfather's mate was an outsider from another land, and his father's mate was, too. It fit the bill perfectly that his mate would be someone from somewhere else.

His feelings of uncertainty began fading. The man's scent ensnared him, and his senses begged him to move nearer. He might be a lost rogue, but he would need Damon's help. And Damon wanted to help him. He wanted to get closer. But he had to be cautious. He had a pack to consider, and there was no way for him to know whether this rogue was a threat. He couldn't let his feelings rule him here.

The man started waking up.

Angst shot through Damon's body, and in response, he tensed up. He eyed the man closely as he came around, noticed the blood on his tawny-brown skin, and hastily cleaned it off using the river. He seemed a lot more lucid now, so perhaps Damon could read him easier than when he was stumbling through the snow.

The guy got up. He started walking. So, Damon followed. He shadowed the man as he trekked through the snow, went over a ridge, and down a hill towards a village.

Why would he go to a village? Those humans would figure out what he was in a matter of moments and slaughter him! Damon couldn't let that happen.

He hurried after him, but he was too late. The man already stole and pulled some clothes on and hurried deeper into the village.

Damon snarled in frustration and left his wolf form. He did just as the rouge did and snatched a pair of trousers and a shirt from a nearby clothesline. As he got dressed, he stuck as closely as he could to the man using alleys and the shadows. He watched him go into a tavern...and when he saw all the humans get up and confront him, Damon's heart started racing.

He wanted to burst out of his cover and go in there and pull the kid out before the villagers could hurt him, but there were too many of them. He had no idea what weapons they possessed—

But then he heard one of them yell, "He's infected!"

Everything happened so fast. The humans took out their weapons and began chasing the rogue through the village.

Damon wasn't going to let them kill him. This rogue was supposed to be his mate, so he would protect him. He would give in to his urges and instincts and do whatever he had to to get this man to safety.

He hurried through the alley, and when he spotted some loose planks above him, he climbed up and moved along the balconies, following the rogue's trail. He watched the panicked man run into an alley, so Damon made his way along the roofs of several buildings until he could see the man below.

"Up here," he said, holding out his hand.

The man sharply turned his head and looked up at him. His eyes were bluer than the sky, and he was easily the most beautiful man Damon had ever seen. But there wasn't time for him to stand there and admire the man who was his mate.

For a moment, the rogue seemed to consider whether taking Damon's hand was a good idea, but he took it, and then the Alpha pulled him up onto the planks. Then, as the villagers yelled and waved their precious weapons around, Damon started leading the way to safety.

But as he descended the stairs towards the forest, the world around him became a haze.

Everything went black.

He could hear a voice in his head.

It was a voice he knew.

And beeping. Slow, steady beeping.